The Ivy Influence: Ivies in College Athletics

Did You Know? Bernard Muir is just the second African-American Ivy League graduate to be named to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. He joins Penn's Craig Littlepage, who served on the committee from 2003-07 and is the current director of athletics at Virginia.

Influence of individuals who have ties to the Ivy League crosses all aspects of society. In no profession is that more apparent than in the one in which the Ancient Eight was founded upon -- collegiate athletics.

D. Elton Cochran-Fikes, Sherryta Freeman and Bernard Muir are just three examples of former Ivy League student-athletes who are shaping the lives of today's student-athletes.

Cochran-Fikes set high school state records in his home state of New York before going on to be a world-class runner in distance events at Penn. In 1974, the seven-time Heptagonal champion became the first Penn and Ivy League athlete to break a four-minute mile when he ran a 3:55.0.  It was the best performance by an African-American athlete in the United States and ranked 15th on the all-time world list at the time. After college, Cochran-Fikes continued competing until moving into coaching with the Marines and at Harvard. In 1986, he came to his alma mater to work as an administrator in the athletics department. He remains a Quaker to this day as Associate Director of Athletics, overseeing compliance area for the department.

In 2009, Cochran-Fikes received a unexpected surprise. To honor outgoing Ivy League Executive Director Jeff Orleans, who had served in his role for 25 years, the Ivy League decided to name its men's cross country championship trophy in honor of Orleans and its women's cross country championship trophy in honor of the Orleans family. The men's trophy features a sculpted pack of runners on top. The leading figure at the front of the pack is Cochran-Fikes.     

Freeman was a standout on the basketball court for Dartmouth and is currently standing out as the Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance and Student Services at Temple. In her role, Freeman oversees all aspects of the department’s compliance efforts with the Atlantic-10 Conference and NCAA rules and regulations.

Freeman has relished the role of being a key contributor on a team, starting with her time on the court with the Big Green where she won two Ivy titles and made two NCAA Tournament appearances. The Hillside, N.J., native turned her playing career into a career in sports with her first foray into the field being a one-year stint at the Ivy League Office as a Public Information intern. In her year at the Ivy office in 2002, Freeman helped to expand the League's online celebration of Black History Month by writing features and producing detailed historical timelines for each school.

After earning her Master’s degree in sport management from Massachusetts in 2004, Freeman returned to her alma mater for year as an assistant director of athletics for a year before moving on to current stop at Temple in 2005.

Muir also starred for the Ivies on the hardwood and now he has become one of the stars in college athletics administration in his current role as Director of Athletics at Delaware. Muir enjoyed a solid playing career for the Bears as a four-year letterwinner who served as co-captain for his senior year in 1990. From the time he stepped on Brown's campus, he knew he wanted a career in college athletics after his playing days. And what a career he has had.

After earning his his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio in 1992, Muir worked at Butler and Auburn before landing a position at the NCAA national office where he worked on the staff for the Division I men's basketball championship for eight years. From there, Muir went to Notre Dame for five years before getting his first athletics director job at Georgetown in 2005. In 2009, Muir moved to Delaware to serve as its director of athletics and recreation. In addition to his duties as leading Blue Hens' AD, he serves as the primary sports administrator for men's and women's basketball, football, and softball.

Muir was named to Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal's "Top 40 Under 40" in 2007 and was appointed by the NCAA for a two-year term on the USA Basketball Board of Directors in 2010. Just this month, he was tapped for a five-year appointment on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee beginning Sept. 1.

Cochran-Fikes, Freeman and Muir were leaders as student-athletes. Now they are leading student-athletes as administrators.